Clyde’s - Nov. 15 to 19
by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Jean-Remy Monnay
Department Performances
- Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 8pm - Purchase tickets here
- Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 8pm - Purchase tickets here
- Friday, November 17, 2023 at 3pm - Purchase tickets here
- Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 2pm - Purchase tickets here
- Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 8pm - Purchase tickets here
- Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 2pm - Purchase tickets here
The most produced play in America in 2022, this comedy, by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sweat and Intimate Apparel, is set in the kitchen of a truck stop where the art of making a sandwich is perfected by a group of formerly incarcerated individuals.
- Advance tickets: $17 general public / $12 students, seniors & UAlbany faculty-staff
- Day of show tickets: $22 general public / $17 students, seniors & UAlbany faculty-staff
(Photo by Becca Cruz)
The Theatre Program of the University at Albany’s Department of Music and Theatre is pleased to present Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage as its second production of the season. The work will be directed by Jean-Remy Monnay, founder and artistic director of the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York, who returns to UAlbany after directing August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson last season.
Marking the first Capital Region production of this play, there will be six public performances at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus from November 15 to 19, 2023. The schedule includes shows on Wednesday & Thursday, November 15 & 16 at 8pm; Friday, November 17 at 3pm; Saturday, November 18 at 2pm & 8pm; and Sunday, November 19 at 2pm.
The play is set in a truck-stop sandwich shop in Berks County, Pennsylvania that offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at reclaiming their lives. Even as the shop’s tough-as-nails owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the crew of line cooks is given a sense of purpose and permission to dream through their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich.
Nottage is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and the same playwright who penned Ruined and Intimate Apparel, the latter of which was produced by the UAlbany Theatre Program in 2019. Clyde’s is a comedic follow-up to her play Sweat which also takes place in Berks County. Nottage decided to set her play there after learning that the city of Reading was the poorest city of its size in America in 2017. Capital Repertory Theatre will perform the drama Sweat in March.
Clyde’s premiered on Broadway in 2021 in a production that starred Uzo Aduba. Last year, it became the most produced play in America according to statistics gathered by American Theatre magazine.
In an interview with The New York Times, Nottage said this about her work: “Clyde’s is a play about people trapped in a liminal space. It is also about community, healing, creativity, mindfulness and forgiveness.” She went on to say, “It is about the process of resurrecting one’s spirit and finding grace in the simple business of living.”
According to director Monnay, “I am on a mission to direct all of Lynn Nottage’s Plays. Clyde’s is so far my third one. I’ve also directed Sweat and Intimate Apparel. About 10 more to go. I just love her writing and what she writes about. She focuses on social injustice, working class people; specifically working-class BIPOC people and particularly Black people.”
About working at UAlbany again, Monnay says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to be back at UAlbany to direct. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience working with the design and creative team, and with some talented and amazing students.”
Next up in the Theatre Program’s season will be Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew directed by Ryan Garbayo, UAlbany’s Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting, and the Fresh Acts festival of new plays which are written and directed by students.